81 replies to this topic

[Bones Justice]

Batman Returns

I think this game gets a bad rap for being too difficult. Yes, it is challenging but it's a good game, too. The graphics are really solid, no glitches or slowdown even when there is a ton of stuff on screen coming at Batman. The controls are rock-solid, I never feel like I got hit because the buttons didn't respond.

The gameplay has some great subtle effects, too. Enemies can be knocked out by bombs from other enemies or by broken glass. If you time it right, Batman can take down two or three enemies at the same time with a single explosive. Knock a clown off his motorbike and it still comes sliding at you for a few seconds.

One of the things that makes Batman Returns a difficult game is that you can't clear an area of enemies. They just keep coming! If you absolutely don't like that style of side-scroller, then you won't like this game. I never minded it, myself, and it adds replayability once you've finished a level because it's not just the same enemy at the same point in the level each time.

Okay, the bosses are hard but my main complaint is that it's kind of boring to have to hit Penguin over thirty times to take him out. It's almost too much repetition once you know the boss pattern. But then, this is standard for side-scrolling beat-em-ups, I suppose.

I have two other minor complaints about the game. One, there is no comlynx support. I know, Robin wasn't in the movie this game is based upon but it still would have been a great option. Wouldn't it be great to have a side-scroller that didn't trap both players in the same part of the screen, too? Two, it's okay for most beat-em-ups to have the main character strolling down the street but this is Batman! It's a little odd to have Batman just walking down the sidewalk rather than sticking to the shadows or climbing over the rooftops. I guess most Batman videogames from this era suffered from this, though.

Overall, great single-player game for the Lynx!

Edited by Bones Justice, Sat Jun 18, 2011 12:48 AM.

[Atari Joe]

BLUE LIGHTNING

Edited by Atari Joe, Sat Jun 18, 2011 8:37 AM.

[Bones Justice]

Tournament Cyberball


Tournament Cyberball is acade port of Tournament Cyberball 2072, the sequel to the original arcade game, Cyberball. Cyberball is a futuristic game of American football with robot players using an explosive gameball. The original Cyberball was ported to multiple systems in the early 1990's but the Tournament version was only ported to Lynx at the time (it was included in an arcade collection in 2004 for PS2, GC, and XBox). In the arcades, the Tournament version included two difficulty levels, more plays, a new type of robot (the powerback), more than one team to choose from, and four computer opponents with different styles of play.


Single player mode:


Unfortunately, there's not a lot to recommend on the single player game. There are no difficulty levels and although there is a choice of four computer opponents, there doesn't seem to be any difference in the way they play against you. The additional robot-type, the powerback, is included, as are at least some of the additional plays; it's hard to tell if the playbook is complete because the game only shows you a random four out of over a hundred plays at once, even in the arcade version. You can choose from multiple teams but again, there doesn't seem to be any difference between them during play. There is no league or playoff mode, just single games, which is just like the arcades.


While the basic gameplay is the same as the arcade, it plays at a slower speed, taking a lot of the challenge out of playing offense. You can really take your time choosing your receivers. On defense, the speed boost is not really even noticeable when you use it. The controls are solid and responsive, at least. A lot of the more subtle gameplay elements are missing, too. There's no bouncing or tipped passes, no cut scenes showing technicians working on damaged robots, and no ship flies out to "beam" out debris or "beam" in a replacement robot. Worst of all, robots never get damaged and start smoking to warn you that they're likely to explode and fumble the ball if they get hit. The only way robots get destroyed in the Lynx version is if they are hit when holding a critical ball. Also, an upgraded robot doesn't seem to perform any better than an original robot. It's like the programmers understood the basics of the game but never played it enough to understand the finer points of the game. One thing they did get right, though, is all of the voice samples are intact and appear to be directly from the arcade version, albeit at a lower quality. Also, since they did include the powerback from the Tournament version, you can throw the ball with that robot, too.

(continued in next post)

Edited by Bones Justice, Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:21 AM.

[Bones Justice]

Tournament Cyberball (continued from my last post)


Multiplayer games (2-4 players):


Like most games, the multiplayer game is more fun than playing alone. Connecting via the comlynx is a breeze but if you are playing more than two players, teammates seem to be chosen at random. One game might be 1-2 versus 3-4 then the next game (without even restarting) might be 1-3 versus 2-4, etc. You'll either have to restart until you get the match you want or simply switch Lynx's with another player unless you can live with random match-ups each time. Another sore point is which teammate calls plays for offense (and plays quarterback) and which calls plays for defense -- you can't choose and it doesn't switch at halftime like the arcade version, either. The viewpoint is always centered on the ball, too, so if your opponent has the ball and moves beyond your viewpoint, your own view scrolls your player off the screen.


There are some good points, though. You do get a different perspective depending upon if you are on offense or defense, always from behind your own team. Passing marks only show for the offense, too, just like the dual-screen arcade version. The controls are still rock solid and responsive just like the single player game. And since this version includes the powerback, both offensive players can have a chance to throw the ball around. Since the basic game is intact, you and some friends can have a fun time trying to score touchdowns against each other even if there isn't as much destruction as the arcade game.


Compared to the other home versions of Cyberball in the 1990's, the Lynx is second best only to the Sega Genesis/Megadrive version. The Sega game is fast and awesome even though it's only based upon the original Cyberball. The Sega version offers options beyond the arcade with full league play with a sixteen game season, playoffs, and a robot shop that carries over from game to game. The Sega version even has a modem option. The Amiga version is good but only has a one-player mode and no modem option. The NES and Spectrum versions are abysmal. If you have the choice, get the Sega game before getting the Lynx version.


Overall, I recommend the game only if you like sports games as their is nowhere near as much destruction as the original game. It's a much better game with friends, if you can get them to play. I've seen this game sell for under five dollars brand new many times over so if you're just curious, it's worth picking up for that price.

Edited by Bones Justice, Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:29 AM.

[Bones Justice]

Pit Fighter

This port of the arcade game has the unique distinction of being the only fighting game for the Lynx. The arcade game came out during that period between the popularity of the side-scrolling beat-em-ups like Double Dragon and the more modern one-on-one fighters like Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat. Still, it has most of the common elements, one-on-one fighting in an enclosed area, both against the computer and other players. It was also one of the first games to feature digitzed actors in the game rather than hand-drawn sprites.

The Lynx version has all of the same rules as the arcade game and also uses digitized actors. The basic game for one player is a series of one-on-one fighting matches in a warehouse, surrounded by a jeering crowd on all sides that will shove or even stab you if you get too close. I seem to remember being able to retaliate against the crowd in the arcade version but you can't do that in the Lynx version anyways. You can choose from one of three characters, a karate expert, a kickboxer, or a wrestler, with each having different advantages of speed, strength, and range. You and your opponent can also pick up knives, barstools, boxes, and the like to use as weapons against each other, too. Every third round, you fight a grudge match against a clone of your character for the best of three falls.

The two player game is played via comlynx and connecting is hassle-free. Instead of a one-on-one match against computer opponents, the two-player game has you fight against two opponents, though they are clones of each other. But remember how their were three characters to choose from? That's because in the arcades, three players could compete at the same time. Either they didn't think the Lynx could handle three players or (more likely), they didn't think this game would be popular enough for anyone to get a three-player match going. Every third round, you can fight one-on-one against the other player in a grudge match, again, the best of three falls. It's sad, but that's the closest thing to a one-on-one fighting game on the Lynx.
(continued next post)

[Bones Justice]

Pit Fighter (continued from last post)

Unfortunately, the Lynx has a lower resolution than the arcade so the graphics look very muddled and pixelated. The arcade version featured a lot of browns, red, and blacks, but the Lynx's lower number of displayable colors makes Pit Fighter look mostly brown. You can see the basic shapes of the digitized actors but almost all details are lost due to the low resolution and low number of colors used. The character select shows a digitized close-up of the actor's face but again, they look poor; ever one looks like a horrible burn victim or someone who's face is swollen due to an extreme allergic reaction. The one positive thing about the graphics on the Lynx is that the characters scale in size when moved closer or farther away; it would be really impressive if the sprites didn't look so horrible in the first place. I think the Lynx version is the only one to include scaling besides the arcade but it's just not enough to overcome the rest of the graphics problems.

There's not much to say about the audio. You can hear the rythmic beat from the arcade tune repeat over and over. There should be audio clips between levels from the final boss but they are missing from the Lynx.

Despite, the poor graphics and simple audio, I could live with it all if the gameplay was good. But it isn't. Hit detection wasn't brilliant in the arcades but it's awful on the Lynx version. Even when you are in the middle of a combo and appear to be making lots of contact, you can suddenly have the tables turned, all of the rest of your hits missing somehow, then the computer clobbering you even though they don't seem to be connecting at all. The control scheme is poor, as well, requiring combinations of the d-pad and option buttons to do even simple moves like ducking or blocking. They rarely do what you want them to do, either.

I guess I could say that Pit Fighter is the best fighting game on the Lynx because it's the only one --but it's too painful. Even if you find this game for under ten bucks, avoid it.

[Bones Justice]

Ishido: The Way of Stones

I bought this game because I was intrigued by the box art (and it was cheap). The manual is actually one of those box art posters with the instructions on the back. I probably would have paid the two bucks just for the poster but I got another game for my Lynx along with it.

Ishido is a strategy game that involves placing marked stones in matching patterns on a grid-like playing field. Each stone is marked by a color as well as by a symbol. To score points, you must place each stone next to a matching color or symbol. Placing a stone next to two or more stones requires matching at least one by color and at least one by symbol; you can't put a stone next to a couple of stones with the same color only, for example. The highest score is achieved by placing a stone in the middle of four other stones, which is the most difficult match to make. Each game starts with a pouch of stones that you are given random stones from, one by one. The game ends when you have either placed all of the stones or there are no more moves to make because there are no available matches for the current stone.

There are several game modes, too. You can play solitaire, which is more like a puzzle though you do earn points for your moves and the high score table. There are also cooperative or competitive modes for two players (either human or computer), taking turns placing stones to either earn a team high score or to outscore your opponent.

In addition to the main game, Ishido includes something called "The Oracle". The Oracle is a wise being that imparts sage advise to the player only after a four-way match. You can choose either a male or female Oracle but since it's merely text, it's all a matter of pronouns. I suppose the male Oracle offers different advice than the female one but it's hard to say since four-way matches are rare. You can turn off the Oracle if you want but it's kind of cool to get an extra reward for making the best move in the game.

Despite having excellent artwork on the box cover, the graphics and audio in Ishido are simple. The playing field is a grey grid with pockets for each stone to be played and a series of dots in the corner to represent the remaining stones in the pouch. The stones are basic colored blocks with one of the symbols on top. The only real sound is the "snap" of placing a stone on the grid. Even when you get a bit of wisdom from the Oracle, it's all text (though in a nice, cursive font). I guess it's supposed to make you think but I would have preferred something like the box cover and maybe some kind of special sound effect or music.

Overall, if you like puzzles, pure strategy, or games of solitaire, get this game. It's simple to learn but will challenge you in the long run. Though I'm not a big fan of the genre, I truly enjoy playing Ishido now and then.

Edited by Bones Justice, Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:11 AM.